Tangible Personal Property in Texas

Tangible Personal Property Examples

Usually taxable: office furniture and equipment; computers and phone systems; machinery and tools; restaurant and kitchen equipment; medical and dental equipment; inventory, raw materials, and work in process; supplies on hand January 1; business vehicles and trailers; signs.

Not taxable: intangible property such as goodwill, patents, trademarks, and accounts receivable; household goods and personal items not used to produce income; the first $125,000 of value at each business location; inventory that qualifies for the freeport exemption.

Fixtures. Something attached to the building can be real estate or personal property. Trade fixtures a business installs for its own use, like shelving, display cases, and salon stations, are usually personal property. Building systems like HVAC and elevators are real estate. The same item shouldn’t be taxed on both the real estate account and the BPP account, and sometimes it is.

Leased equipment. Equipment you lease from someone else is usually rendered by the owner, the leasing company. Equipment you own and lease to others is yours to render.

Rendering Tangible Personal Property

Each year, businesses report their tangible personal property to the appraisal district on a rendition (Comptroller Form 50-144, or the district’s own version). It lists the property you owned on January 1, where it was located, and either a good-faith estimate of market value or the original cost and year acquired.

Deadline. April 15. You can request an extension to May 15 in writing.

$125,000 or less at a location. Instead of listing every asset, you can certify on the rendition that the property at that location is worth $125,000 or less. The choice stays in place until ownership changes, the district asks for a full rendition, or the value goes over $125,000.

Penalties. A late rendition, or none at all, can add a penalty of 10% of the taxes on the property. Fraud or an intent to evade tax can bring a 50% penalty.

No rendition means the district’s estimate. Without a rendition, the district values your property from its own records. Those estimates tend to run high.

How Texas Taxes Inventory

Yes, business personal property includes inventory. Inventory is valued as of January 1 at what it would sell for as a whole to a buyer who would continue the business, not at the retail price on the shelf.

September 1 option. A business whose inventory peaks around January 1 can apply to have it valued as of September 1 of the prior year instead. It has to be requested in advance.

Freeport exemption. Inventory shipped out of Texas within 175 days of being acquired or brought into the state can be exempt where the taxing unit grants the exemption. It takes an application every year, filed between January 1 and April 30.

Dealer inventory. Car, boat, heavy equipment, and manufactured housing dealers are taxed under separate rules with monthly reports.

The $125,000 Exemption

Last reviewed October 2026

Starting with the 2026 tax year, the first $125,000 of tangible personal property at each location in a taxing unit is exempt. Property you lease to others gets its own $125,000 exemption, and so does property stored at a location you don’t own or lease. Related businesses at the same address combine their property and share one exemption.

How to Keep Your Value Accurate

Keep a fixed-asset list that matches what’s actually in the building on January 1. Report what you’ve sold, scrapped, or retired; old assets stay on the district’s records until someone takes them off. Check that each asset is reported at the right location. Look for items taxed on both the real estate and BPP accounts. Document idle, obsolete, or damaged equipment, because a depreciation schedule assumes it’s in normal use.

When the value is still too high, protest it. The deadline is the same as for real estate: May 15, or 30 days after the notice is mailed, whichever is later.

We handle renditions and BPP protests as a service.

This article is general information about Texas property tax, not legal advice. Rules and deadlines can change with each legislative session.